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Monday, 14 September 2015

TEPCO releases first batch of
decontaminated Fukushima groundwater to sea

Tokyo Electric Power Co. was set to release 850 tons
of treated radioactive groundwater into the sea off the Fukushima No.
1 nuclear power plant by sundown on Sept. 14.
The discharge marks the first release under the utility's
“subdrain
plan," an additional measure conceived to help diminish the
build-up of contaminated groundwater at the crippled facility.
TEPCO began discharging water after a third-party panel confirmed
that the radioactive content was below the standard set by the
utility.
The plan utilizes subdrains, which are essentially wells set up
around the main buildings of the power plant to collect groundwater
flowing into the complex. Once the groundwater has been pumped from
those wells, it undergoes decontamination in a special facility for
release into the ocean after being checked for radioactive content.
The Fukushima
Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations gave
the green light to the operation on Aug. 11, and TEPCO began pumping
in earnest on Sept. 3.
The release of the first batch of decontaminated groundwater,
which had been stored in a tank since last year, started around 10
a.m. The water collected from Sept. 3 will be released in a few days.
TEPCO's standard is set at 1 becquerel of radioactive cesium per
liter of decontaminated groundwater, 3 becquerels for elements that
emit beta rays and 1,500 becquerels for tritium--a substance which is
very hard to treat.
As for now, the utility plans to pump 100 to 200 tons of
groundwater daily, but will increase the volume to 500 tons if it
does not encounter any problems with the decontamination facilities.
TEPCO believes the subdrains can halve the approximately 300 tons
of daily groundwater buildup at the plant. However, the utility is
uncertain how many months it will take to see whether this holds
true.
Source: Asahi Shimbunhttp://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201509140069

The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear plant has started releasing groundwater into the sea pumped
up from around reactor buildings. The water is decontaminated and
monitored before releasing.

The government and Tokyo
Electric Power Company say the release is aimed at reducing the daily
production of radioactive wastewater by half. The work began at
around 10 AM on Monday.

300 tons of contaminated water has
been produced daily in the damaged reactor buildings due to flow-in
of groundwater.

By evening the operator plans to release some
850 tons of groundwater. This is from the 4,000 tons it has already
pumped up from wells around reactor buildings since August last year.
The groundwater has been cleaned to permissible radioactive
levels.

Workers will
continue to release the stored water for 3 more days this
time.

Municipalities and local fishermen worry about possible
effects on the environment if something goes wrong. The government
and the Tokyo Electric Power say they will conduct strict monitoring
of the discharge.
Source: NHK